“Sure.” Alistair yanks me back against his chest. “Then why didn’t you?”
I see red. Turning to face him, I wrap my fingers around his throat. “Why would you say that? I love her. She’s everything to me. If I lived a million lives, I would rather die in every single one than hurt her even once.”
“Exactly.” Ali’s throat bobs against my palm.I’m out of control. Slipping. Becomingit,the possessive, angry beast that I fear.I need time to think. Time to calm down, but he’s not giving me any room. “If you’re such a monster, why don’t you snap my neck?” Alistair taunts.
I yank my hand away from his neck. I can’t risk hurting him while I’m barely in control.
Ali leans in closer, trapping my hand between our bodies until it’s half braced against his collarbone. “Why would you pull away, love?” he asks. “I’m right here. You had me in your grasp.”
“Stop it. I wouldn’t—fuck you,” I snap. “Just because I don’t want to kill my girlfriend and my boyfriend doesn’t mean I’m not a monster.”
Alistair goes impossibly still. “What was that?”
“I don’t want to kill you!”
“I already knew that.” Ali buries his face in my neck and sucks in a ragged breath. “What did you call me? That was new information.”
A sledgehammer made of pure embarrassment hits me. Why did he have to wake me up to talk? And what the fuck is wrong with me? I told Celine I loved her before she was ready, and here I am telling Alistair he belongs to me when we’ve never discussed what we are to each other.
“That’s not what I meant,” I sputter, desperately clinging to my last shred of dignity. It’s flapping in the breeze like laundry on a line.
“Don’t take it back.” Alistair nips at my neck, and I gasp as he growls. “I liked it.”
“Pause,” I say, pulling away from his lips and fangs so he can’t distract me. “You want to be my boyfriend?”
“Are you asking?”
“What? No?”
“You’re confused.”
“Yeah.” I suck in a ragged breath. “Because you’re confusing me. You woke me up to interrogate me about feelings. I’m not sure how we got here.”
“At the risk of sounding like a smartass, I’m pretty sure feelings are exactly what got us here.” His voice is less confident now. Raspier.
Do I have feelings for him?
Finally, a question I know the answer to.
I find Alistair’s lips in the dark and kiss him softly. Blood rushes to my cheeks. His arms wrap around me, tightening until we’re almost as tangled up as two people can get. It’s not enough. My tongue traces the seam of his lips, then the kiss turns messy. Hungry.
I slide the hand trapped between us down and cup him through his pants. He thrusts into my palm, and I smile into our kiss. I like that he’s hard for me—gasping into my mouth and no one else’s. I like that he lost sleep over the expression on my face when he talked about monsters. Godsdammit, I like him. A lot.
“Do you need blood?” I slide my fingers into his sweatpants and curl them around his cock.
He groans. “I’m fine.”
“I didn’t ask if you were fine.” I roll my thumb over the tip of his dick, collecting the bead of pre-cum and spreading it around. “I asked if you needed my blood.”
“Always.” Alistair kisses me with bruising force, and my bottom lip splits. “I always need your blood. I-I—dammit, Luca, I need you.” His confession is intense. Everything is with Alistair, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You have me,” I groan, tilting my neck to the side. “So bite me. Because you need to be strong. And because I’m fucking aching to have your fangs inside me again.”
For a second neither of us moves, then needle-sharp fangs sink into my skin. The pain is gone before I can even think the wordouch.Then it’s only pleasure. Alistair’s body rubbing against mine. His cock in my hand, skin grinding against skin as he chases his pleasure. And the absolute fucking euphoria of his bite.
He’s a drug I’ll never get enough of.
I let myself zone out.
